


Finding Home

by ilandalandan



Category: ENHYPEN (Band), I-LAND (Korea TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Crushes, Fantasy, Implied Romance, M/M, Magic, Sirens
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-14 18:28:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29546544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ilandalandan/pseuds/ilandalandan
Summary: Sunghoon is saved by a siren. There are consequences.
Relationships: Kim Sunoo/Park Sunghoon, Park Jongseong | Jay/Yang Jungwon
Comments: 11
Kudos: 57





	Finding Home

**Author's Note:**

> **Song recommendation[here](https://youtu.be/7hqJt6JQGxM). Please enjoy!**

> **_They say that the world will one day end in a sea of tears. On the day of the reckoning, the water will take back all that it has lost, souls for souls, to compensate for the innocent lives our parents have taken in their greed. It’s only right, isn’t it? A fulfilling life to replace the one that was never lived, fair judgement according to the people who call the lake depths their home. In this day and age, we didn’t believe that this was going to ever happen. But we should have._ **
> 
> **_We should have._ **

  
  


The water was rising, and there was no way out. 

It almost seemed like nature was conspiring against all those who stayed in this small corner of the world: this little town with its residents who had done nothing over the years but take, take, _and take._ Trees that weren’t there before were blocking every road out of here, a growing gate that barricaded everyone in and kept them where they were supposed to be, in the place they were meant to die. 

The water continued to rise; there was no way out. 

Sunghoon wasn’t sure what the point was, but he was trying to head home. It was difficult though, every street impassable with the water now up to his waist. Everyone else was in a panic, going their own way, fright palpable in their manic expressions and desperate cries for help. No one was helping one another however, and how fitting it was. _Every man for himself:_ vicious but man’s true nature. It was the very sentiment that had landed all of them where they were in the first place, about to drown in the wrath and despair of the creatures they had promised to protect. 

_When will you humans ever learn?_

Along with the swirling pool that was overtaking the town, the creatures of the lake were singing. It sounded like a dirge, but it was no longer for their children: the ones the townspeople had exploited and paraded around for the viewing pleasure of man. Done with lamentations, they were unhappy about the means they were taking to mete out judgment, but it was time to collect. It was time for them to teach man a lesson. 

Sunghoon started swimming, the water up to his neck by now, and found himself heading to a two-storey house. He was careful not to sink: this was a kind of enchanted water, and from what he’d seen, those who were pulled under never rose back up. If the water continued to rise the way it was doing so, Sunghoon was sure he was going to die anyway—but the desire to keep living was strong. If he could prolong his life a little bit more, he would. It was worth a try, even though it was probably in vain. 

Unfortunately, he made it as far as the kitchen of the house he’d gone to before the water forced Sunghoon under with only a final gasp of air that wouldn’t sustain him for very long. This was it. There was no way out. 

_There was no way out._

It was so bright underwater, almost as if sunlight was streaming in from above. Sunghoon found it such a terrible way to die: not in darkness but cradled by this hopeful light. He wondered if it was intentional. Slowly running out of oxygen and unable to stop himself from panicking, Sunghoon tried to swim somewhere, _anywhere,_ refusing to inhale. But his body’s desire to get air was too strong—with a gasp and a choke, Sunghoon found himself gagging on an endless supply of unneeded water. _It burned;_ his lungs couldn’t quite decide what to do with all the liquid, but had no means to stop the onslaught of it either. Trashing in place, Sunghoon started sinking, dizzy. He was dying. He was—

Just then, a pair of hands grabbed the collar of his shirt to yank him forward and up. And then a pair of lips crashed against his for a kiss that was _not_ a kiss—it wasn’t, because it gave him air, gave him life, and Sunghoon, by some miracle, realized he was breathing again. 

“Breathe! Breathe with me!”

When he opened his eyes, it was to find a pretty faced boy in front of him. He had pale skin and dark hair, hair that danced and swayed along with the swirling water around them. For a moment that seemed suspended in time, Sunghoon simply stared, enamored. Beauty like that could only be seen from the supernatural: this boy was a creature from the lake. 

“Breathe,” it said again and with soft urgency, scaled hands changing colors as they moved in slow motion and along with an invisible current—bright purple and a crimson red, a glinting silver and then a vibrant green. Sunghoon felt a spike of panic at the command, remembering the sensation of trying to do the same thing as earlier. But wait. _He could breathe._ The creature smiled in relief, pearly white fangs glinting as its short hair continued to whirl about like ink. “Ok? Breathing?”

Sunghoon lifted a hand to touch his chest and his throat, only for his fingers to find something that hadn’t been there before. On the sides of his neck… were those gills? Was he… 

“What the fuck?!”

His voice sounded odd, bubbles floating out of his mouth and then up with his words. It didn’t seem so loud, but the creature before him recoiled in surprise, hitting the wall behind it. It lifted its hands in front of its face, webbed like its feet as the creature nearly curled in on itself with a frightened expression. 

“Only help,” it insisted with a shaky voice that sounded like a haunting song, gesturing at its own neck and the sides of it where gills also were. “Temporary, to help. _Not us!_ Still you!”

Sunghoon stilled, breathing from the gills that he’d been given but only temporarily, at least according to this creature. Narrowing his eyes, he realized he must have looked angry and ready to attack. He raised his hands in a calming gesture, apologetic. 

“No, I won’t hurt you. Sorry I was just… you don’t just grow gills all of a sudden. I was shocked. I won’t do anything to you, I promise!”

The creature uncurled, and Sunghoon found his eyes getting drawn to the rest of the scales that decorated its body. It seemed disrespectful though, so he forced his gaze up to meet a sad one. It was now wary of him, but why?

“Broken promises,” it whispered to him with a soft shake of the head. The singing quality of its voice was still there, and it drew Sunghoon closer. “Promises not kept.”

 _Ah._ Sunghoon sighed, remembering what was happening. 

“I know. That’s why you’re killing us, right? We broke our promise.”

The creature’s expression turned hard just then, and this time the shake of its head was firm and curt. It straightened, scales darkening to a deep maroon. It looked vaguely threatening, its voice tinged with a hiss that made Sunghoon’s blood run cold. 

“Just some, not all! _Wrong.”_

It reached out and suddenly touched Sunghoon’s face, and in his surprise, Sunghoon wasn’t able to move as his cheeks were cradled. The voice went back to its haunting quality: a begging croon. 

“Wrong to kill. Right to live.”

Sunghoon slowly lifted his own hands and touched the webbed ones over his, nodding his head with a growing, grateful smile. 

“Then thank you for letting me live.”

The creature’s scales seemed to shift, turning into a much lighter color all of a sudden: _coral pink and sunset orange._ Was it… _was it blushing?_ Sunghoon couldn’t help but laugh, reaching out for an embrace. The action made them turn slowly in place, as if they were dancing, the water their very own jewelry box. 

“I’m Sunghoon. What’s your name?”

There was a long pause, and then the barest of whispers. If promises were made of songs, this was it. 

“Name, Sunoo.”

  
  


  
  


Sunghoon found himself getting led away from the house he had taken refuge in, pulled along with a tug of his hand. But it took them some time, and Sunoo was getting impatient: even though Sunghoon could swim, he was no match for someone who was born to be in the water. 

“Slow,” Sunoo teased him with an exasperated smile, the shake of his head making tendrils of hair billow around his face in a dreamy display. Their hands separated, Sunoo swimming backwards and leaving him behind with just one kick of his webbed feet. “Land creature so slow.”

“Hey!” 

Sunghoon was offended, trying his best to catch up and failing miserably. It was impossible in an environment he wasn’t really used to, and no matter what he tried, the water was a barrier to his limbs. Not to Sunoo though, who felt the need to show off by doing a dizzying pirouette. 

“I’m trying! It’s my clothes, they’re too heavy!”

“Off,” Sunoo replied simply, scales changing to the same orange and pink combination of earlier as he placed his hands behind his head, still swimming backwards. 

“Swim faster if clothes off.”

That made sense… or did Sunoo just want to see him naked? Sunghoon was about to make a joke about it, hands already on his belt and ready to get rid of his clothing, but he was distracted by something in the distance. Floating figures, drifting lazily with the undercurrent, and suddenly he was reminded of the situation he was in. _Dead. The townspeople were all dead._

What was he doing, treating this entire thing like a meet cute?

“Sunghoon?”

Sunoo’s voice was a questioning lull, and it made everything around Sunghoon hazy. Still focused on the dead bodies in the water, Sunghoon’s mood did a complete one-hundred eighty, and not even the song in Sunoo’s voice could pull him out of the horror he was feeling at what he was seeing. Coming to a stop above the roof of a house, he allowed the water to turn him slowly in place. 

The lifeless bodies were everywhere. 

“Am I the only one left alive?”

Sunoo made a strange sound just then, sort of like a wail but not—slightly high-pitched and definitely sad, a reminder of all the things that used to make Sunghoon cry. Swimming back to him, Sunghoon found his face being held in between scaly hands again. And when Sunoo spoke, it was like being put under a spell. 

“Don’t know… we tried to save many. Not just you. Others, others too. Please. _Don’t look.”_

Making another wailing sound, this time softer, a gentle palm was placed over Sunghoon’s eyes as he was held close, embraced, sung to. 

_“Don’t look, Sunghoon.”_

“But I want him to look.”

A new voice interrupted them just then, and it was Sunghoon who pulled himself away from the hug with a start, turning his head frantically until he was looking at the owner: a creature much like Sunoo, only this one had golden hair and scales that seemed to burn like the sun in bright crimson-orange.

“I want him to see what’s going to become of him.”

“Jongseong, _no!”_

Sunoo was in front of Sunghoon in a flash, and his scales assumed the same bold colors of earlier. He was hissing, hands outstretched to block Sunghoon from view. _From harm._

“Innocent! Nothing to do with anything!”

“I care not.” 

The creature named Jongseong was hissing back, eyes flashing: blue, an electric blue. It pierced right through Sunghoon with so much hate in it that he was surprised the glare alone didn’t kill him. Without taking those eyes off him, Jongseong nodded his head as if in command, and others like Sunoo was suddenly upon them. 

“Round them all up and take them to the dungeon. I want a word with you, Sunoo.”

_“Wait, where are you taking me—Sunoo, don’t leave me—”_

Sunghoon was yanked back by the arms and away from the owner of the name he was calling for, but when Sunoo tried to reach out to him, he was stopped by Jongseong. 

“Stop it, brother. You’re a disgrace to the Crown.”

That was the last thing Sunghoon remembered before he was losing consciousness to the sound of a song: an unpleasant humming that felt like the prelude to a nightmare. A siren’s song, but meant to be in reverse. Not to lull, but to put you in a restless sleep. 

  
  


  
  


When Sunghoon came to, it was to bright sunlight on his face. The heat was a sharp contrast to the icy wetness dripping from his hair. Opening his eyes slowly, he noted the coarse sand against his skin. It took a while, a very long while, before he realized something important. 

He was no longer in the water. 

“Are you going to stay there on your back forever, land creature?”

Sitting up abruptly at the sound of that voice, Sunghoon never made it far, a webbed foot slamming him back down on the ground by stomping on his chest. The action choked the life out of him—with a gasp, he stared up at Jongseong’s sneering face and wondered if this was how he was going to die. 

“My brother wanted you to live.”

The pressure on his chest was increasing, and Sunghoon’s ribs were starting to protest. Hands coming up to wrap themselves around Jongseong’s ankle, he tried to push the golden-scaled creature away but had no strength to follow through. 

_God, he couldn’t breathe._

“He begged for your life. He’s a fool. He’s never met you, or your kind. He’s never been on land, but maybe it’s time for him to be.”

A sharp gasp somewhere above his head drew Sunghoon’s attention, and he stopped trying to free himself where he was pressed against the sand when he heard Sunoo’s voice. 

“Jongseong? Wh–what’s going on? Sunghoon?”

Sunghoon inhaled a lungful of much needed air the moment Jongseong freed him, and he pushed himself up as soon as he was able to, watching Jongseong retreat back to the water without turning his back on him. _Wait;_ not him. He was looking at something past Sunghoon instead.

“You wanted him to live, did you not brother? You said we should give him, and his kind, a chance. That’s what _you’ll_ do. Go ahead and give him that chance, Sunoo. Have him find Jungwon to bring back to me. Only once he has Jungwon can you come back to the kingdom too, brother.”

Still gasping for breath, Sunghoon turned slowly around to find Sunoo curled up like a newborn human child, entire body racked by shivers. His eyes were wide, gaze moving from Jongseong to him. He looked scared, and he had every right to be. Because he had lost his scales, and his feet and hands were no longer webbed. He was warmth and flesh and good old air. 

_Human flesh and human skin._

“No...” 

Sunoo was touching the sides of his neck, horrified at the smoothness there. _No gills._

“I helped you,” was Sunoo’s next words as he looked back up and at Sunghoon pleadingly, hands reaching. But Sunghoon was already backing away, not entirely sure what he was supposed to do. “Help me now.”

 _Find Jungwon…_ but who the hell was Jungwon, and how were they going to find him? 

**Author's Note:**

> **This has an open ending for now because I'm not sure if I'll write the Jay/Jungwon part. It's not something I really planned out, it just happened hehe. But we'll see.**


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